Q4 Sales Season: hottest GEOs, rates, and 10 optimization strategies

E-commerce in Q4 promises to be extra hot, and now is the perfect time to set your ad campaigns in motion.

Looking for winning bundles for 9.9 and beyond?

This article from Galaksion has everything you need for higher ROI: top offers, GEOs, recommended rates, and optimization tips ahead of the double-digit shopping craze. 

Get the full Sales Season guide below, plus 10 hacks that will keep your campaigns converting.

Why e-commerce dominates Q4

From September through December, millions of your potential customers will be actively searching for discounts.

You have four big dates to profit from: 9.9, 10.10, 11.11, and 12.12.

Almost every sale is now a multi-day event with a “warm-up” and a “cool-down” period. For you, that means profit before, during, and after the sales days.

Need more reasons to get started?

• In 2025, the 11.11 shopping festival reached $238 billion in sales across all platforms, more than 14% higher than the year before.
• On 9.9, users in Thailand placed over 1 million orders on Shopee within just 30 minutes. Gen Z was especially interested in skincare, cosmetics, and household items.
• Nearly 4 out of 10 Malaysians strategically wait for major sales before making a purchase. 

As an advertiser, your goal is to get in front of peak demand before competitors do. A well-timed campaign can help you capture a larger share of seasonal demand.

Where to get 100% direct traffic for your ad campaigns

Big sales attract big competition, and traffic quality matters more than ever, especially if you’d like to secure higher-quality traffic volumes. 

Our team knows the Sales Season inside out: e-commerce has been one of Galaksion’s top-performing verticals for over 12 years now.

What Galaksion provides for your campaigns:

• 100% direct traffic protected by advanced anti-fraud technology;
• 4 ad formats, including innovative Shuffle Box;
• Smart CPM and standard CPM, CPA, and CPC pricing models;
• optimization features for high ROI, CR, and more;
• 200M+ impressions a day across the Asian GEOs that run the big sales.

Just in time for the first major event of the fall, we asked our optimization pros for recommendations. 

Must-target Sales Days in 2026

These four dates are the pillars of Q4 e-commerce:

• 9.9 Super Shopping Day
• 10.10 Brand Day
• 11.11 Singles Day (the biggest of them all!)
• 12.12 All Out Sale

But why not expand your reach? Extra sales this September:

🛒 Sales 📅 Date

AliExpress: September 8–10, 15–22

Shopee: September 16–18, 25–30

Tokopedia: September 25–30

Walmart: September 1–7

Shein: September 10–20

Prepare your Q4 campaigns early and boost your strongest combinations with Galaksion! You can build your winning bundle using offers, GEOs, recommended rates, and optimization strategies below.

Best-performing offers & product categories

Top offers

• AliExpress
• Shopee
• Lazada
• Tmall Global
• Trip.com
• TikTok Shop
• Amazon
• Flipkart
• Shein
• DHgate
• And more

Best-selling product categories

High-demand everyday products: 

💄 Beauty 

💊 Health products

🏠 Home goods

🧸 Children’s products

Gift-themed products: 

🧴 Cosmetics

🧖🏻‍♀️ Personal care

🔌 Small electronics

👜 Accessories

Recommended GEOs & CPM rates (mobile; also test desktop)

AliExpress (worldwide, try various countries)

Android

CL — $0.4

ES — $0.7

MX — $0.7

BR — $0.8

ID — $0.45

+ more

iOS

JP — $0.5

US — $1.6

GB — $1.65

DE — $1.3

FR — $0.75

CA — $1.3

ES — $1.3

MX — $0.45

AU — $1.4

+ more

Shopee (+ Lazada)

Android

ID — $0.45

VN — $0.35

MY — $0.9

TW — $0.65

PH — $0.55

TH — $0.7

SG — $0.65

iOS

ID — $0.6

VN — $0.7

MY — $1.3

TW — $1.3

PH — $0.7

TH — $1

SG — $1.3

Trip (worldwide, try various countries)

Android

HK — $0.75

SG — $0.65

TW — $0.65

MY — $0.9

KR — $0.6

ID — $0.45

iOS

HK — $2.5

TW — $1.3

SG — $1.3

GB — $1.65

KR — $0.8

MY — $1.3

JP — $0.5

Shein 

WW, top: US, GB, CA, SA, ID, KW

Amazon

WW, top: IN, US, AE, SA, MX

Flipkart 

GEO: IN

DHgate:

WW, top: US

Top 10 tricks for higher ROI during the e-commerce season

1️⃣ Launch early and warm up your audience for major sales

Platforms like AliExpress host pre-sale events nowadays, so launching before peak day is the safer bet. You will be able to collect enough data and double down on your best-performing bundles later. 

2️⃣ Bid higher than recommended to win top slices

When checking the Traffic Volumes section on our platform, set your rates above the recommended range for the biggest shopping days (hint: you can use our Custom Rates feature for this). 

And if you want an extra reference point, you can always ask your manager for the latest rate recommendations we prepared for this season.

3️⃣ Run both ROS and RON campaigns at the same time

Use ROS (Run of Site) to scale the zones that already perform well, and keep RON (Run of Network) active to catch more profit opportunities as new zones appear in our network every day.

We recommend updating your whitelists before every major sale or even more frequently. Performance can change quickly, so you should be ready to react with features like Zones Tumbler Switch when performance changes.

Plus, your Galaksion manager will always have the freshest options ready for launch, so feel free to reach out! 

4️⃣ Retarget previously engaged audiences

Bring back the users who interacted with your offer but didn't buy. During major shopping events, retargeting will re-engage them. 

5️⃣ Increase your frequency/capping before 9.9–12.12 sales

Repeated exposure can work in your favor: our data shows conversions typically happen after 3 to 5 views.

Try higher frequency/capping settings such as 3/24 or 5/24. This can help improve CR and bring more shoppers back to your offer before the promotion ends.

6️⃣ Test different creatives in your campaigns

To see which visuals, headlines, CTAs, and promo angles generate the highest CTR, you need multiple options to choose from. 

Browse Galaksion’s free creative library in your campaign settings and contact your manager for more ahead of the season.

7️⃣ Streamline creative selection with Shuffle Box

Once again, you need to know which creatives deserve more traffic as early as possible. 

Thanks to Galaksion’s latest ad format innovation, finding winning options has become nearly automated.

Shuffle Box combines Mobile Push-up, Interstitial, and On-Page Notification in a single integration. Every time a user refreshes the page, they see a new ad format and one of the best-performing creatives, selected based on each creative's eCPM.

One ad format that combines three and builds winning creative pools automatically, from scratch or from the assets you provide. This helps to save time and effort while maximizing ROI. 

8️⃣ Let your campaigns run a few days after the major sales days

Shoppers can stay active for several more days, and many brands keep their promotions beyond the double-digit date. 

Running your campaigns a little longer allows you to capture post-sale demand and squeeze more value from your traffic.

9️⃣ Separate your campaigns by sales and use new tracking links

Cleaner data is key for further optimization.

🔟 Switch to CPS and pay only for completed sales

If you usually work on CPA, consider moving to CPS (Cost per Sale) during major shopping periods. This way, you can optimize campaigns around completed sales rather than earlier actions in the funnel.

With these 10 tips, your e-commerce ad campaigns will stay competitive throughout the Q4 sales season. 

Ready to see your winning bundles in action? Register and profit from the upcoming sales season with Galaksion!